SMALLER CATS. 415 



In some examples, however, the red tinge is greatly developed at the expense of the 

 grey. The individual hairs vary in colour in different portions of their length. 

 The dark spots on the back and side are longer than broad, with n more or less 

 marked tendency to arrange themselves in longitudinal lines, and the species 

 derives both its popular and its scientific name from their general rusty -red hue. 

 In the reddish variety, which is characteristic of Ceylon, the spots are, however, 

 brownish-black. As in so many of the smaller Indian cats, the forehead is marked 

 by longitudinal dark stripes, four in number, and there is also a stripe on each side 

 of the face behind the eye. The species is quite peculiar among the spotted cats 

 in having the tail without either spots or rings, its upper surface being of the 

 same tint as the back, while the under-part is paler. In length the rusty-spotted 

 cat varies from 16 to 18 inches from the tip of the snout to the root of the tail, the 

 length of the tail being constantly 9J inches. 



The skull agrees with that of the fishing-cat in having the sockets of the eyes 

 completely surrounded by bone, but it is peculiar in that there are never more than 

 two premolar teeth in the upper jaw, that is to say, there is only one of these teeth 

 in advance of the flesh-tooth. 



This cat inhabits Ceylon and Southern India, rarely extending as far north- 

 wards as the Central Provinces, and being quite unknown on the Malabar coast. Its 

 fossil remains have been obtained from a cavern in Madras, thus proving that it 

 was an inhabitant of India at a time when the fauna of that part of the country 

 had a much closer affinity to the fauna of Africa than exists at the present day. 

 The late Dr. Jerdon, in his Mammals of India, observes that " this very pretty 

 little cat frequents grass on the dry beds of tanks, brushwood, and occasionally 

 drains in the open country and near villages, and is said not to be a denizen of the 

 jungles. I had a kitten brought to me very young in 1846, and it became quite 

 tame, and was the admiration of all who saw it. Its activity was quite marvellous, 

 and it was very playful and elegant in its motions. When it was about eight 

 months old, I introduced it into a room where there was a small fawn of the 

 gazelle, and the little creature flew at it the moment it saw it, seized it by the nape, 

 and was with difficulty taken off! I lost it shortly after this. It would occasionally 

 find its way to the rafters of bungalows and hunt for squirrels. Sir W. Elliot 

 notices that he has seen several undoubted hybrids between this and the domestic 

 cat, and I have also observed the same." 



In commenting upon this account, Mr. Blanford observes that the alleged 

 absence of the species from jungles is probably incorrect, for it has been found 

 inhabiting forests in Ceylon. A pair of kittens of this species were at one time in 

 the possession of Mr. R A. Sterndale, and proved quite as tame, active, and graceful 

 as the one mentioned above. After the death of one of the pair from snake-bite, 

 the kitten of a domestic cat was obtained as a playfellow for the survivor, when 

 the difference in the agility of the two creatures was very markedly exhibited. 



THE FLAT-HEADED CAT (Fells planiceps). 



The flat-headed cat is the second uniformly-coloured species, in addition to the 

 lion, among the Old World cats. It is about the size of a domestic cat, but with a 



